DRC beats Ebola outbreak

Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officially declared the end of the Ebola outbreak, bringing the curtain down on a 10-week re-emergence of the disease that claimed 33 lives.

“After an observation period of 42 days during which no new confirmed cases have been observed, and in conformity with international health regulations, I declare today, July 24 2018, that the epidemic of Ebola virus disease in province in the Democratic Republic of Congo has come to an end,” Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said in a statement.

The outbreak, the ninth in the DRC since 1976, began in the remote northwestern area of Bikoro, where the first cases were recorded on May 8.

The news triggered a wave of international concern, which heightened after cases emerged in Mbandaka, a city and transport hub on the Congo River with a population of more than a million.

For many experts, that ranked among worst-case scenarios — a highly contagious disease in an urban setting is far harder to contain than in the countryside, especially in a poor country with a fragile health system.

The same strain of Ebola struck the West African states of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2013-2015, resulting in the deaths more than 11 300 people.

The vaccine has yet to be licensed, and has to be kept at extremely cold temperatures, which adds to the difficulties of distributing it, particularly in poor, hot countries.

But data from the trials suggested it was safe as well as effective, and thousands of frontline health workers received the jab.

“[The] WHO moved quickly and efficiently,” Matshidiso Moeti, the agency’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement.

“We also demonstrated the tremendous capacity of the African region. More than three-quarters of the 360 people deployed to respond came from within the region. Dozens of experts from Guinea spent weeks leading Ebola vaccination efforts here, transferring expertise which will enable the DRC to mount an effective response both within its borders and beyond.”

One of the world’s most notorious diseases, Ebola is a virus-caused haemorrhagic fever that in extreme cases causes fatal bleeding from internal organs, the mouth, eyes or ears.

It has a natural reservoir in a species of tropical African fruit bats, from which it is believed to leap to people who kill and butcher the animals for food.

Transmission among people then typically spreads through close contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of someone who is sick with Ebola or has recently died.

The average fatality rate is about 50%, varying from 25% to 90%, according to the WHO.

In the absence of a tried-and-tested arsenal of drugs to treat Ebola, health workers use time-honoured techniques of quarantining patients to control its spread.

The methods require rigorous protection of nurses, doctors and ancillary staff, who have to wear a full-body plastic gown, gloves and a facemask and are sprayed down with disinfectant after contact with patients.

The countdown to declare the latest outbreak defeated began in late June after no new confirmed cases were recorded.

Under international guidelines, 42 days have to pass, representing two incubation periods of the virus. — AFP